Entrepreneurial young farmer backs British farming

 

farmers apprenticeEntrepreneurial equine management alumnus Rebecca Kelsall has her sights set on a win in the latest series of the Farmers Apprentice. The Farmers Weekly initiative is a multi-task competition which showcases the many skills required for success in today’s agricultural industry. The winner takes away £10,000 to help launch or improve a farming business.

Rebecca Kelsall - Farmers Apprentice finalist

Rebecca Kelsall – Farmers Apprentice finalist

Rebecca, 21, commented, “It’s been such a brilliant opportunity to be a part of the series, working with like-minded aspiring farmers. It’s broadened my knowledge of the agricultural industry and I’ve met some great contacts.”

On the topic of winning she said, “I reared my first Saddleback pigs at my uncle’s farm earlier this year – winning would give me the opportunity to buy some land of my own. I’d use the land to raise other rare-breeds, for example the Oxford Sandy.

The Farmers Apprentice is an annual competition launched at Reaseheath in 2012 and continues to attract thousands of would-be farmers to the Farmers Weekly website. The winner will be announced at the close of the 6 week series, broadcast from 21st October.

Rebecca was also recently involved in the Lord Mayor’s Show, as part of the Harper Adams University team selected by the Worshipful Company of Farmers. Accompanied by seven other young farmers and a state-of-the-art John Deere combine harvester, they paraded through the streets of London and encouraged crowds to back British farming.

Rebecca is studying a BSc in Agri-business at Harper Adams University and is currently on a placement year working with Genus ABS in Nantwich.

Cattle Foot Trimming

Reaseheath College, Nantwich, CW5 6DF

A practical and theoretical two day course on the Dutch five step foot trimming technique with NACFT foot trimmer Simon Davies.

Further your skills and improve your techniques.

For more information about available dates or to book please contact 01270 613165 or email alison.regan@reaseheath.ac.uk.

Eden students on tour

Eden Study Tour Appleby Creamery - cropped

Our new cohort of 19 dairy technology students from Arla Foods, Müller-Wiseman Dairies, Dairy Crest and Glanbia Cheese started their ‘Eden’ journey last week with a trip around the dairies of Yorkshire and Cumbria meeting industry partners and Reaseheath graduates.

Students had the opportunity to get a feel for the variety of products and processes that they will be experiencing as part of their course.

Steve Woods at Reaseheath Graduation 2014

Steve Woods at Reaseheath Graduation 2014

First stop was Arla in Leeds, to see their extensive liquid milk processing site. Next stop was Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, North Yorkshire, to see the wonderful array of cheeses made at this small scale creamery. Students were treated to a fantastic array of samples including Wensleydale cheese with Mango and Ginger, Blue Wensleydale and their extra mature Wensleydale Kit Calvert. After a rather rainy night in Kendal it was on to an artisan cheese producer, Appleby Creamery, where they saw how to make some fantastic sheep’s milk cheese.

The study tour ended at Dairy Crest, Kirkby where students were given an insight into the large-scale production processes of Clover spread. They also caught up with new Eden graduate and Reaseheath alumnus Steve Woods, who gave them all a tour of the factory and an insight into life at Dairy Crest. Steve joined his fellow Eden cohort at this year’s Graduation Ceremony

Kathy Merrett
Food Programme Leader

Equine students with Guy Williams

Reaseheath was riding high at HOYS

Reaseheath College equine students and staff came under the spotlight at the world’s most famous horse show, the Horse of the Year Show, by providing the arena party for the fourth consecutive year.

Elle Germany gets a cuddle from Bob Ellis

Elle Germany gets a cuddle from Bob Ellis

A team of 38 students and two staff were on duty for last week’s event helping international course designers Bob Ellis and Kelvin Bywater build courses to test the world’s leading showjumpers.

The students received unique training and experience and also took the opportunity to catch up with top ranked showjumpers including Guy Williams, an early international class winner.

Led by FE Programme Leader Sarah Houghton and course manager Kerry Nunns, the Nantwich college’s team did such a professional job that they have already been booked as the arena party for HOYS 2015.

The arena party at work

The arena party at work

Bob Ellis, who was lead course designer for the London 2012 Olympics, said: “Yet again, Reaseheath’s arena party has been exceptional and are helping us to put on a superb show.  All the students are easy to work with, listen to instructions and have a great sense of humour. They are a credit to the college and to Sarah and Kerry, who do such a great job in keeping everyone motivated because they lead from the front.”

“All riders aspire to compete and win at HOYS and it makes such a difference to us knowing that we can rely on our arena team to do a professional job.”

Reaseheath also provides the arena party for Bolesworth International and other prestigious venues. Students from all courses, from diplomas to degrees, are encouraged to take part.

For further details about Reaseheath’s equine courses see www.reaseheath.ac.uk/equine.

Reaseheath graduation opens doors to careers success

Graduates from Reaseheath College received degrees designed to boost their careers at a ceremony in the centre of Nantwich.

Dressed in gowns and mortar boards, almost 150 graduates spilled out of St Mary’s Church to celebrate with Britain’s best known Paralympic athlete Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson OBE, who was guest speaker.

The ceremony marked the achievement of students who had completed degrees in agricultural science, equine science, food technology, garden and landscape design, engineering, countryside management, adventure sports management and rural events management, all delivered in partnership with Harper Adams University.

Animal management and science students on degree programmes validated by the University of Chester (UoM) graduated alongside other UoM students at Chester Catherdral  in November.

Describing the Nantwich ceremony as one of the highlight of the academic year, Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David emphasised that the graduates would see a massive return on their financial and emotional investment. An independent analysis had shown that £40,000 spent on course fees and living expenses would secure an additional £250,000 over the span of a career. Nearly 90% of Reaseheath graduates who completed degrees last year were in related employment within six months of completing their course on an average starting salary of £21,000.

Degrees gained at Reaseheath College were specialist, technical qualifications which enabled students to gain both knowledge and the necessary skills and competencies to carve out a successful career.

In such a competitive jobs market it was important that higher education (HE) programmes were delivered and validated by high quality, well respected institutions. Reaseheath’s own HE programmes had recently been inspected by the Quality Assurance Agency and had received fantastic report, equivalent to an ‘Outstanding’ from Ofsted.

Reaseheath continued to invest in specialist facilities and resources which would give students the competitive edge in the jobs market. Over £40 million had been spent on facilities which were recognised as among the best in the country. A further £10 million would be invested this year into a national centre for Food Futures and Environmental Management and this would be followed by a £13 million spend on a 200 room residential building and an extension to the Higher Education Centre, both to be completed for September 2016.

Reaseheath currently had 700 students enrolled on degree courses. A significant number were mature students or were studying while working with the support of their employers. One of its most successful programmes was the Eden Project, which offers dairy technologists the chance to gain a globally recognised Foundation Degree in Dairy Technology. The qualification had been developed in close partnership with industry and was aimed at meeting demand for future managers.

Although academic progress was important, Meredydd pointed out that many graduates had helped to organise social events and charity fund raising, which last year contributed £12,000 to worthy charities.

Congratulating the graduates, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who studied politics and now has a seat in the House of Lords, said that education was vital and led to wider choices. Her key advice was to try something new and not be put off by failure. Although she had been dedicated to wheelchair racing from the age of 12 she did not win for four years and this had taught her how to train and be committed.

To find out more about our degree programmes please visit the Higher Education pages on our website.

For more photos from the day visit our Facebook page.

 

Motor vehicle students

Raceway trip proved no drag for IMI motor vehicle students

When the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) announced that they were giving away tickets to Santa Pod Raceway for the National Hot Rod Finals, the motor vehicle technology team decided that they would organise a trip for the students to witness the world of Top Fuel Dragster racing.

A selection of students from Level 1, 2 and 3 IMI Motor Vehicle courses attended the day trip to see cars and motorbikes competing head-to-head along the quarter of a mile long strip.

Motor Vehicle Santa Pod racewayOn arrival, all the students were treated to a pit lane walk and were able to spend the rest of the day looking around the vehicles that would be competing in the high-octane action.

As the students took to their seats and pressed home the ear plugs that we wisely took with us, the cars took to the starting lines. The engines were revved and burnouts took place to warm the tyres. As the lights ticked down to green the grandstands were filled with noise, you could feel the ground shaking beneath you as the cars and bikes accelerated from 0-100mph in under two seconds. Nearly all of the top fuel cars were completing the course in less than 6 seconds, reaching straight line speeds of over 240mph.

For many of the students this was their first experience of drag racing and all of them came away with some great memories of their first visit to Santa Pod.

For further details on Reaseheath’s Motor Vehicle courses see www.reaseheath.ac.uk/motor-vehicle.

Steve Ellis

Course Manager, IMI Level 3 Diploma in Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair

 

The Cheshire Grassland Society celebrates half century

The Cheshire Grassland Society celebrates half century

The Cheshire Grassland Society celebrated its 50th anniversary with a drinks reception and formal dinner at Reaseheath College, Nantwich, last week.

The society held its first meeting at Reaseheath in October 1964 and has held its winter meetings at the college since then.

Sixty past and present members attended including past chairmen George Radley, (1973/74), Neville Thornhill, (1982/83), Jim Fletcher (1984/85), Richard Ratcliffe (1986/87), Stuart Yarwood (1988/89), Ken Furness (1992/94), David Hughes (1994/95) and Colin Hamilton (2011/13) and current chairman Phil Feeney. They were joined by members of the British Grassland Society and by representatives from the agriculture industry.

The Cheshire Grassland Society provides a forum for the county’s progressive grassland farmers, helping them to grow more grass which is converted by livestock into milk and meat for the supermarket shelf. The society invites specialist speakers to its winter meetings, organises silage and grazing competitions among members and runs an annual trip to look at top class grassland farms in other parts of the country.

The Cheshire Grassland Society secretary Lesley Innes, a member of the planning committee for the event, said: “The evening marked a significant milestone for the society and it was a great success. The drinks reception had a vibrant atmosphere and this was followed by an excellent formal dinner. Guests were delighted to have the opportunity to catch up and reminisce, particularly as some had not seen each other for years. Everyone enjoyed themselves and I am sure the evening will be talked about for a very long time.”

The event was partly sponsored by Harvey Hughes Ltd, HJ Lea Oakes, Trouw Nutrition, Germinal Seeds, Nickerson Seeds and Growhow Ltd.

 

QAA

Reaseheath College earns top marks for its Higher Education

Reaseheath College’s higher education students receive an excellent experience, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has confirmed.

The QAA, which is the HE equivalent of Ofsted, has judged that the quality of degrees offered by Reaseheath and the way they are delivered is worthy of commendation and in a number of areas exceeds UK expectations. The findings, published last month, can be found at www.reaseheath.ac.uk/qaa

QAA reviewers who visited the specialist college in Nantwich judged that its academic standards and the quality of information about its learning opportunities met UK expectations. They particularly commended the quality and enhancement of student learning opportunities, finding that in those two areas the college exceeded expectations.

The review team was impressed with the college’s extensive links to employers and the extent to which they were involved in the design, quality assurance and delivery of higher education courses.

The reviewers also found that the college effectively manages its resources, using a co-ordinated and systematic approach to support its students’ academic, personal and professional development so that they reach their full potential.

They noted that all Higher Education programmes include work-based learning, work placements, internships or other opportunities for students to gain relevant work experience.

The review team found seven examples of good practice and no recommendations for improvement.

Assistant Principal and Dean of HE Rachel Ellis-Jones said: “I am delighted that the excellent quality and delivery of higher education at Reaseheath has been identified and recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency.

“The continued investment which Reaseheath makes into its specialist facilities and expert staff was also noted. This investment is a major part of Reaseheath’s ethos, which is to encourage and support our degree students as they progress into careers within their chosen industries.”

The successful review means that Reaseheath can now display the QAA Quality Mark, indicating to UK and international students that the college meets national requirements for standards and quality.

Reaseheath offers specialist degrees in animal science, adventure sports, agricultural science, equine science, environmental management, agricultural engineering, food science and landscape design.